More transparency needed for Washington police asset seizures, audit says

The state auditor's report also suggested police agencies can do more to make sure people know their property has been seized, and how the process works to get that property back, like providing information in languages other than English.

In Washington, police can seize property if they believe it is connected to a crime. If the police agency decides not to pursue forfeiture, they can then return the property to its owner. But if the agency decides to move forward, an initial notice goes to the owner (within 15 days), who can file a claim to get it back (within 45 days, or 90 days for real property like land or buildings).

Agencies differ on how they resolve those claims: some use an employee, some contract out for a hearings examiner and some use a city or county employee or contractor. Decisions in contested seizures by the Washington State Patrol are handled by the state Office of Administrative Hearings.

Among the audited agencies, 75% of seized property was automatically forfeited because the owner either did not file a claim, file a claim on time, or failed to attend a hearing. For many of the reviewed cases, it was because claims weren't filed.

The state auditor found that the police agencies that were audited did follow the law, but also found that Washington law "gives police broad authority and few protections to property owners," and recommended the Legislature form a work group to study the issue.

In 2023, several House Democrats introduced House Bill 1385, which would have put up more guardrails around the process. It received a hearing and committee approval but didn't advance further during last year or this year's legislative sessions.

In a statement, State Auditor Pat McCarthy said Thursday's report "offers a clearer picture of a little-understood aspect of our criminal justice system."

"Our audit shows that greater transparency regarding civil asset forfeiture can help Washington continue to discourage wrongdoing by seizing the material elements of crime while also protecting every person's right to due process."

In a formal response to the audit, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste and Office of Financial Management Director David Schumacher noted that the auditor's report only touched briefly on some factors that "drastically" affected criminal prosecutions and the outcome of seizures.

They said those factors include backlogs in prosecutors' offices, the pandemic, and how, in 2021, the Washington Supreme Court tossed the state's felony drug possession statute, which then led the Legislature to reform the state's drug possession laws that year and again in 2023.

"We encourage lawmakers to carefully engage with a diverse group of police and legal experts before implementing the recommendations in the report to avoid exacerbating the devastating impacts of drug trafficking and human trafficking on Washington communities," they wrote.